Brand Spotlight: Grip Baby

Prototype: First off, congrats on your success! Tell us about you and your brand. What's it all about? 

Ally: My name is Ally Weiss, and I’m a mom of two young boys as well as the Founder and Inventor of Grip Baby, the first-of-its-kind infant crawling support onesie. With 20 years experience in marketing innovation at Pinterest & Google, building ads for well known brands, I left my cooperate job to create Grip Baby after noticing a gap in the market. When embarking on their crawling journey, my little ones were slipping and sliding on our floors in traditional onesies, so I knew I had to do something about it.

In the first month of being on sale, Grip Baby has reached celebrity moms like Kourtney Kardashian, Sophia Richie, Chrissy Teigen, Paris Hilton, and Shawn Johnson! Made from ultra soft bamboo and spandex, it’s the highest quality fabric that’s gentle on sensitive skin. The onesie comes in two oh-so-cute colors Milky (cream) and Stormy (mauve-gray). It’s a simple & beautiful product!

Prototype: Wow! That's amazing how quickly things have progressed for you!

Prototype: What's your personal story? What inspired you to start your brand?

Ally: We share the joy of watching our little movers explore the world on their adorable hands and knees. But those first crawls can also come with slippery-slidey, frustrated tumbles (been there!). That's why I created The Grip Baby Onesie, the first-of-its-kind crawling support onesie.

Prototype: What do you love most about your brand?

Ally: Grip Baby is an authentic brand that prioritizes the safety of children in the digital space. I have made it my mission not to show childrens faces in and of my creative or marketing materials. I love that there is no one above me telling me this isn't a great idea, or that I will sell less because of it. I get to control the brand, and I get to stay true to our mission of great quality products that work, and protecting childrens privacy.

Prototype: Has your journey been easier or harder than you imagined? What have been some of your biggest challenges? 

Ally: The key to launching a great brand is knowing where your weaknesses are so you can hire in places that you might be lacking. Grip Baby is a team of 1, and a few select companies of people that help me run like a 20 person team.

My biggest challenge has been the unknown. I feel big things are in Grip Baby's future, but I left my job at Google for this brand, so its a lot of risk!

Prototype: What do you wish someone had told you before you started? Or, like most of us, did someone tell you and you ignored them?

Ally: It's actually quite the opposite. I think as a new business owner you should get all the advice you can, but listen to your intuition. Your brand is unique because you built it. I also think many of these industries are old school and breathing new life / innovation into them is needed. I have brought my technology experties to this brand and that is something that doesn't exist in this world. I am running Grip Baby like a tech company. If I would have taken some of the advice I received, the process would have moved a lot slower.

Prototype: That's a great insight. Get all the insight you can, but trust your own instincts. I like that.

Prototype: What strategies have worked for you? Do you have any tips for people just starting out?

Ally: If you have a great idea and it's unique enough, patent it. If you have an idea for a great brand name, trademark it. You do not want to begin work on a brand unless you own the name.

Choose wisely when it comes to prototyping and manufacting. Prototype was the perfect partner for me because I was building a first-to-market product. I needed it to be perfect and without them this would have never been possible.

Prototype: Thank you for the kind words! It's our greatest pride to work with brands like yours, with innovative products and enterprising founders.

Prototype: What's next for your brand? Any big plans?

Ally: Grip Baby is going to thoughtfully expand. I am very aware of the pollution brands, especially clothing, bring to the world and I want to make sure I am expanding into products are colors that are necessary. I don't want to have a sku of 1,000...I want to provide people with a product they need, in colors that are sweet and beautiful for their baby.

Prototype: Thank you for the kind words! It's our greatest pride to work with brands like yours, with innovative products and enterprising founders.

Prototype: Time for the credits! Is there anyone you'd like to thank, to shout out, that deserves special mention?

Ally: Prototype for helping me build an amazing product. The team is truly skilled, thoughtful and kind.

https://www.pietrastudio.com for integrating all my e-commerce "stuff." Pietra is truly an incredible platform. You dont need to go buy 100 tools. It's all integrated with Pietra and they even do my shipping!

Danni, Creative director at https://www.womankindcreative.com and Liz Reyes, Creative Director at https://www.littlenookstudio.com for helping me make Grip Baby a beautiful brand.

Thanks so much for your time, Ally. You've been a fabulous client and we look forward to a long and prosperous relationship. Grip Baby is a clever concept, a great product and we know it's going to be a huge hit with all those little crawlers out there!